JCB
J.C.B was originally known as J.C.Bamford and was founded in a garage in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England in 1945 with a £1 welding set. Joseph Cyril Bamford set up in a garage, and the first product built was a farm trailer made of scrap, or as would now be called recycled metal and surplus parts, mainly a old Jeep axle, as it was just after the war rationing was still in place. He sold the first ones at Uttoxeter Market. He then started selling them via the local dealers. Yhe next development was the intoduction of a screw tipping jack and then hydraulic tipping in 1948. The Early Years The next development was to build mechanical loaders to help with filling them. So he built a loader arm to fit on the Fordson Major marketed as the Major Loader. This was followed by the Master loader in 1951 a smaller version designed for loading farm trailers. By 1953 the Si-Hydraulic loader was being built this would go on to sell more than 6000 at £75 each. It was also made under licence in France were 20,000 were built. The First Backhoe Loaders 1950's Then during a trip to Norway Joe saw a hydraulic backhoe, and bought one, as he could see the potential. He then proceeded to build his own version built on the Fordson Major, with a front counter weight. But soon this was replaced with the Loader arm to make the Mark 1 JCB Backhoe Loader. 200 were built upto 1956. New version of the Loader was the Loadall built in 1955, still based on a Major tractor as the power unit. Next was a stronger and more powerful version called the Hydra-Digger. This machine started to attract the attention of earthmoving companies, as well as farmers. The Two were combined to form the Hydra-Digger Loadall in 1956, and went on to sell 2000 + before production ceased in 1960. This was the first mass produced backhoe loader in the UK. This was followed by the JCB 4 which was popular with civils contractors and soon afterwards the smaller JCB 3. This became very popular with the smaller house builders, as the need for lots of labours to dig foundations was removed. This was built in various versions up till 1980 when the New 3CX was introduced. Expansion and Takeovers 1960's The company moved into 360 deg Excavator production with the building of the JCB 7 based on an American design by Hopto, was soon followed by the JCB 6 , 6C and 7C. Soon Chaseside Engineerings range of Wheeled Loaders was added to the line up, and gave them 15% of the UK market 1970's The Chaseside range was replaced by the New JCB designed 400 series loaders in 1971. The 400, 413 and 418 models. Then in 1973 the new 800 series 360 deg excavator range was introduced, with the 806 and 807 followed by the 808 2 years latter. In 1975 Joe annonced he was retiring and handing over to his son Anthony. By 1977 a new line was introduced in the shape of the 520 Loadall Telescopic Handler. By the end of he 1970's 72000 Backhoes had been built. 1980's The 3cx REVOLUTION The completly new designed 3CX was intrioduced, and sold 10,000 units in 3 years and a total of 100,000 machines since the start of the firm 40y earlier in a garage. The 3CX was followed by thr larger 4CX for Civils contractors with Equal sized wheels and the small 2CX for utility contractors working in citiy streets. During the 80's they picked up a string of design and Export Awards. The Fastrac Revolution 1980 The 1980's lead to the Design of the 'Fast Tactor' The other Major R&D project was to build a new Modern Tractor. Diesel Speed Record Achieved JCB have set in 2006 the world speed record for a diesel powered vehicle using there own engines in a custom build machine the JCB Dieselmax. This uses two modified JCB444 engines. Category:Construction plant manufacturer Category:Glossary